Originally Posted by
formula bike
Sorry to dig out (my own) old thread, but I have been thinking about getting newer wheels for this bike. If I wanted to keep it as original as possible, can I get either a 700c wheel with a freewheel, or can I get a quality 27" wheel with a freewheel? If I switch to 700c, what else will need to change?
First things first- it's been literally MONTHS and no pix.
First rule of the internets is: "Pix or it didn't happen."
2nd... The whole "vintage" bike game is played by your rules. I used to be very "original as possible" about bikes. And then I realized that not only were there parts that could have been considered "better" at the time- over the years there have been many, many developments that make a lot of parts demonstrably "better." The trick is finding parts that both work well and look good.
To answer your immediate question about wheels- If you switch to 700C- if it's a 6 speed to 6 speed swap- you may not need to do anything other than move your brake pads. The Trek catalog says "Deore cantilevers." For at that time I take that to mean the MT-60 cantilever brake- pretty much exactly the same thing as the XT M732 brake- probably the very best wide profile cantilever brake made. And super adjustable- you won't need new brakes.
If you decide to switch to a freehub and go with a 7-10 speed cassette- if you go with a 130 spaced rear end- it should just pop right in. Most of the 1980s Treks are spaced at 128 so they'll work with either 126 or 130. If you do go this route- you'll need shifters to match the numbers of cogs... The catalog says "Shimano Deore indexing" which I take to mean the MT-60 RD. I've read that the old SIS derailleurs are good up to 9 speed. I've used them on 7. So if you go with Shimano- you may not need to change the derailleur- even if you get an obscene amount of cogs in the back.